


Some Things Take Longer to Heal

by Anonymous



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Flashbacks, Giant Robots, He doesn't deserve it, Hurt/Comfort, No Tord Redemption, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trauma, edd has dealt with this too many times, look what he did to my baby, please give them a break--, post-The End, tom is dealin with some shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:01:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29790930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Out of the three of them, Tom had it the worst. Being at the brunt of the explosion, Tom had a lot more physical trauma than the others. But after three years, he figured he'd be over it by now......alt. summary:Tom gets triggered at a party and has a Flashback™
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15
Collections: Anonymous





	Some Things Take Longer to Heal

**Author's Note:**

> posted anonymously because Fuck Anxiety. /g  
> (also I have a headcanon that tom has burn scars on his shoulders/upper arms from the explosion so when I say "scars" that's what I'm referring to)

Tom regrets coming with them to the party.

He regrets a lot of things, actually. But he knew he crossed the line when he overheard some random conversation about Godzilla.

This is ridiculous. Godzilla shouldn’t be something to freak out about. Well, he guessed it wasn’t Godzilla himself that got him so skittish, more the fact that they (the people talking about it) were talking about the upcoming movie and theorizing how Godzilla might actually be a Giant Robot, seeing as the ‘Real Godzilla’ would never fight Kong.

It was stupid. Tom thought he was over this by now. They weren’t talking to him, about him or even near him. He figured he did this to himself. He eavesdropped on them on purpose to set himself off as an excuse to leave this stupid party. It was too loud anyway, too hot, too crowded, there were too many people and he couldn’t breathe--

He found Edd, tapping him on the shoulder roughly, his eyes scanning the room for some unknown danger. 

“Oh, hey tom what’s-”

“I want to go home. Please.” Tom blurted, cutting off Edd. Edd raised an eyebrow.

“O..kay, we just got here though,” Edd motioned to the room they stood in, looking at the sea of drunk assholes dancing to music they could barely hear. 

“Please, Edd I just want to go home.” Tom's eyes glued to the floor now, finding his shoes a much more interesting place to look. 

Edd perused him, taking note of his less than comfortable demeanour. His foot tapped hard against the ground while his hands rubbed his upper arms self-consciously. He almost regretted forcing Tom to wear a tank top, knowing he was uncomfortable about his scars. Tom’s eyes refused to meet Edd's, giving Edd more reason to believe that Tom didn’t want to be at the party anymore.

He sighed. “Alright, let me just text Matt to say we’re leaving, yeah?” Tom didn’t respond, just sticking close to Edd as he searched his pockets for his phone. He shot a quick ‘we’re on our way home, call me if u need a ride’ to matt before grabbing tom’s hand. He raised his head to see over the crowd, searching for the exit. Once found, he led Tom carefully through the crowd, doing his best to avoid people. This wasn’t the first time this had happened so Edd knew the least amount of social interaction was best for his friend. 

They made it outside after a minute or so, tom shuddering as the cool night air brushed by his bare arms. Edd fished into his pocket and pulled out the car keys, pressing the unlock button and opening the door for tom. He hurried into the car, almost forgetting the put on his seatbelt. 

As Edd took his seat in the driver’s position, he noticed how tense Tom had gotten on the route to the car. He hunched over in his seat, gently rocking himself back and forth. Edd frowned. He wished he could have prevented this, but he guessed it was too late now. Tom was already halfway into having another episode and Edd knew part of it was his fault. He shouldn’t have made Tom wear something uncomfortable. He shouldn’t have asked him to come to the stupid party. He shouldn’t have left his side for some floozy at the bar.

They were almost halfway home now, though there was still quite a bit of time before they got home. The place they’d been invited to was a town over from theirs.

Realizing how quiet the ride was, Edd asked Tom, “Do you want to listen to some music?”

Tom nodded, not taking his face out of the palms of his hands. Edd reached over to the radio, turning up the volume on the classic rock station. Edd tapped his fingers along with the rhythm of the music, but Tom barely registered the noise.

When they finally reached the apartment complex, Tom wasted no time getting out of the car. He didn’t wait up for Edd as he entered the building. Edd could barely keep up with him as he stormed up the stairs and into his apartment, not bothering to close the door behind him. Edd could hear Tom rummaging through his closet as he entered the house, figuring he was looking for his hoodie. 

Edd approached Tom's bedroom, the door creaking open to reveal a disheveled tom pacing around the room. He had his hand in his mouth, chewing on it absentmindedly as he padded back and forth across the room. 

Edd crept in it in an attempt to not startle Tom, gently pulling his hand out from between his teeth. He guided Tom out of the room and onto the couch, letting him sit on the more comfortable end of it. Edd grabbed the TV remote.

“Do you want to watch anything specific?” he asked. Tom shook his head, resting his elbows on his knees. His foot started tapping again, hard enough to shake the coffee table this time. 

Edd just channel surfed for a bit, finally settling on  _ Isle of Dogs _ . he knew Tom was somewhat fond of that movie, he hoped it would be enough to get him out of his head. 

Edd looked over to Tom, seeing him hunched over again. He carefully put a hand on Tom's shoulder, coaxing him into a more comfortable position leaning back on the couch. He wished he could do for him than just being next to him as he rode out his panic, but realistically there wasn’t much that could help Tom in times like this. 

Tom leaned on Edd's shoulder, holding back tears. Edd carded his fingers through Tom's hair soothingly and Tom closed his eyes. Edd could only imagine what Tom was going through and it pained him to witness it. 

“Do you need anything, tom?” Edd asked. Tom nodded, mumbling a raspy ‘water’. 

Edd stood up and padded to the kitchen, putting extra ice in tom’s glass. He remembered him complaining about how Matt drinks his without ice and how lukewarm water was disgusting.

On his way back to the living room, however, Edd ended up stubbing his toe on the dining room table, sending a precariously positioned glass cup crashing to the ground. Tom, upon hearing the loud noise, promptly shot up from his seat on the couch, letting out a noise akin to a whimper mixed with a yelp, looking around the room as if he feared the walls around him. 

“I-,  _ shit _ tom--” Edd started, but tom had bolted already. Tom stumbled across the room, almost colliding with the wall as ran to his bedroom. He slammed the door shut behind him, making his way to the far corner of his room before sinking to the ground.

The walls were closing in on him, everything was too crowded, it hurt, hurt  _ hurt _ \-- he couldn’t see anything around him. Something heavy pressured his chest, feeling as though he might collapse under its weight. He needed air, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t  _ breathe-- _

A hand touched his face, causing him to jump back in surprise. Tord was there again, he was going to destroy everything again, he didn’t want to  _ die-- _

“Tom, tom it’s okay, you’re okay,” Edd cooed, making sure to keep his distance this time.

Tom had pressed himself in the corner between his dresser and the wall, scratching furiously at his arms in a desperate attempt to soothe himself. His eyes screwed shut and his breathing came out in short, half-drawn pants. He seemed to be flinching at noises that didn’t exist, signaling to Edd that he was no longer aware of his surroundings. 

“Tom, hey look at me,” Edd tried, still not able to get Tom's attention. 

“No, no, no no no” tom muttered, curling inward as if something was about to hit him. Edd waved a hand in front of Tom's face, snapped his fingers a few times and suddenly, Tom’s eyes were open, locking on Edd for a fraction of a second before closing again. 

“Tom, you’re okay just open your eyes, please,” he said, scooting a little closer to tom. Tom opened them hesitantly, eyes darting around the room frantically. “There you go, see you’re okay,” Edd moved out of the way a bit so tom could see his bedroom. 

“What do you see, tom?” 

Tom whimpered, closing his eyes once again. He balled his fists in his hair, his chest moving up and down erratically. 

“I-m.. I--” tom started, practically choking on his words. “I’m tr-- I’m tr-trapped I--” he paused to breathe. “I’m trapped, trapped i-i can’t-- it’s dar-dark I can’t  _ see _ \--” tom’s hand reached out for Edd, grasping onto Edd’s outstretched hand and squeezing it tightly. “I-it  _ hurts _ , Edd  _ please-- _ ” 

“Shh, it’s okay tom, you’re not trapped, you’re in your bedroom.” Edd reasoned, but tom was lost again. His breaths only got worse, devolving into ugly sobbing as the pressure in his chest rose, his body burning with the ghost of flames that once seared his body. 

“E-edd, please--  _ h-help me _ I ca-- I can’t,” tom fretted. 

“Hey, tom listen, can you give me your other hand?” Edd rubbed his thumb over Tom’s knuckles softly, holding out his other hand for tom. He stiffly released his hand from his hair, placing it shakily into Edd's. “Okay, I'm gonna put your hand on the ground,” Edd did as he said, letting Tom feel the floor below him. “What do you feel?”

Tom paused, hiccuping as he ran his trembling fingers over the shag carpet. 

“S-sof-- it’s s-soft I--” he started, his breathing getting ever-so-slightly less shallow. “Th-the carp-carpet-- I ff-feel the c-carpet..” he trailed off, another sob escaping his lips. 

“Alright, was there any carpet in the explosion?” Edd asked calmly. Tom shook his head.

“Nn.. n- _ no _ \--” his voice broke off into more crying. 

“So where are you, tom?” Tom took a minute to respond and Edd could practically hear him thinking. 

“I-i’m  _ home _ I’m-- i-in, in the apar-apartmen-t,” he wailed, tears streaming out of his eyes like a waterfall. “I-I’m in-in mmy bedr-bedroom--” 

“And where is Tord?” 

“He-- h-he’s  _ dead _ \-- he’s g- _ gone _ ,” 

“You’re right,” Edd reassured. “That means?”

“H-he c-- he c-can’t,” Tom paused for breath, “h-he can’t h- _ hurt _ me any-anym-ore..” tom trailed off, his cries quieting down. His breath remained uneven for the most part and tears still streamed out of his inky black eyes, but at least he was starting to calm down. 

“That’s right, you’re doing great tom.” Edd smiled at him. Tom nodded wearily. 

Edd started to get up and Tom made a noise of distress, eyes widening and hands reaching out for him. “Hey, it’s okay I’m just gonna grab something, yeah?” Tom hesitated, but let go of his hand to let him leave, rubbing his eyes. 

Edd came back within seconds, carrying with him headphones and Tommee bear. He knelt back down in front of Tom, handing him the headphones and the stuffie. Tom grabbed Tommee first, letting Edd place the headphones on his ears. He could hear the Cure playing comfortingly in his ears as he clutched the small bear, raking his fingers through his fur. 

“Can I hug you?” Edd asked, Tom nodded his consent. Edd wrapped his long arms around Tom's skinny frame, holding him close. Tom buried his face in Edd’s chest, gripping onto his hoodie as if it was the only thing keeping him from certain death.

Pretty soon Edd heard Tom snoring, looking down to see Tom sound asleep in his lap. He scrunched his nose a bit when he noticed tom’s snot/tear mixture had soaked into his hoodie, grabbing a spare tissue off a nearby nightstand to wipe it off. 

Figuring this wasn’t the most comfortable position, Edd picked Tom up off his lap, carrying him over to his bed and set him down gently. Tom’s eyes fluttered open, staring blearily at Edd as he turned off the light and sat beside Tom's bed. 

“You feeling better?” Edd asked, seeing Tom taking off the headphones. Tom nodded.

“Thanks, Edd. Sorry you had to deal with that..” Tom said, pulling his comforter over his chest. 

“It’s no problem, and don’t be sorry. Shit happens.” Edd shrugged. “You good if I leave?”

Tom looked away shamefully. “Actually, is it alright if you stay? Just until I fall back asleep?” he mumbled into his pillow. 

“Of course,” Edd smiled. “Anything you need.”

**Author's Note:**

> constructive criticism is appreciated.


End file.
